Sunday, July 21, 2013

Writers are crazy . . . and I love them.

I just got back from two weeks at a Creative Writers' Camp.  It was so much fun!  While a lot of people seem to think that having over 6 hours a day devoted to writing sounds like torture, I found it to be incredibly enjoyable and helpful with developing my writing skills.  I also met some amazing people who understand my weird quirks like obsession with notebooks and office supplies and talking about my characters as if they actually exist.  We all bonded over a love of writing and a bunch of shared fandoms.

I didn't really get many pictures at camp, but I'll share a few of the ones I did get.

I had a lot of fun, but it was also nice to come home and sleep in my own bed and shower in a bathroom I wasn't sharing with 14 other girls.  The dorm experience was useful for knowing what college will be like, though.

There were so many interesting things going on at camp, including a talent show, dance, and karaoke night.  The talent show included some really great acts, like all the counselors singing "Bohemian Rhapsody", the new boy band 4th Floor doing a horrible yet entertaining rendition of "I Want it That Way", a bunch of truly wonderful singers, musicians, and dancers, and some of the girls from Creative Writing performing a mashup of song lyrics as slam poetry from songs including, but not limited to, "If I Was Your Boyfriend", "Unwritten", "Radioactive", "Love Story", "Single Ladies," "Umbrella", and "Thrift Shop".

Another awesome time was had on a trip to a used bookstore that I immediately fell in love with.  It was one of those stores literally overflowing with books.  The inside resembled a maze of bookshelves, and there were literally stacks of books lining the floor in front of the shelves as well.  And with thirty or so creative writing kids there, well, let's just say the store did some really good business that day.

We also had several afternoon activities to choose from, or we could just stay in our rooms and write.  Some of my favorites included Zumba, candy sushi, and movie nights of Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Howl's Moving Castle.  We also had a living group night where we had 60 dollars to spend however we wanted.  We went to Whole Foods, bought a ton of Ben and Jerry's ice cream, and then watched a movie.

This is the candy sushi I made.  It was ridiculously sweet and actually pretty gross.  I managed to eat two pieces before I gave up and had to go find a water fountain.

One of the things I loved was being around people just as crazy as I am.  Or maybe it's not that they're as crazy as I am, but rather that we're the same brand of crazy.  It made for some really fun times.  A group of us have even begun planning and co-writing a story in which we're all superheros and get into some pretty hilarious situations.  We're filling the story with basically every stereotypical plotline we can come up with.

Wear a Skirt Wednesday!  We also had Wear Pink Wednesday, Pajama Day, and Tacky Day, though Wear a Skirt Wednesday definitely had the most participation, especially among the guys.  All the girls (including me) were more than willing to provide daring guys with skirts for them to wear.

The last week of camp went ridiculously fast.  I woke up on Thursday, the last day of classes, wondering where the time went, because it felt like I had just arrived a few days before.  I was really sad to leave everyone, but I know we'll stay in touch.

One thing that made coming home a little better was the stack of books that had arrived while I was gone.  One in particular is a book I think everyone should read, because it is so incredibly awesome.  It's called "Let's Bring Back" by Lesley M. M. Blume.  It's an encyclopedia of various items and traditions and whatnots from times past that we should revive.  I agree with pretty much everything in this book, and it's brilliantly written to boot.

On the last day, while I was waiting for my mom to come pick me up, two of my friends decided to be cats and climb on top of the wardrobes.

I'm going to miss all the great friends I made and all the fun I had at camp.  I brought back some wonderful memories and some even greater bonds with new friends.